The city medical examiner’s office this week confirmed that partial skeletal remains found by maintenance workers at LaGuardia Airport on August 20 are human.

Maintenance workers made the discovery at about 6:20 p.m. as they were clearing weeds from a remote area near a fence outside the perimeter of the airport, Port Authority Press Officer Al Della Fave said.

Della Fave said maintenance workers periodically remove weeds that grow outside the fence for security purposes, “to clear line of sight” from the fence to the waters near Flushing Bay.

Timing was significant in the discovery of the remains, Della Fave said. “The tide was low when the workers spotted the high weeds and decided to clear the area,” he said. “That area is covered with water when the tide comes in.”

The maintenance workers immediately alerted Port Authority police of their discovery. With help from the NYPD Crime Scene Unit and the medical examiner’s office, Port Authority police searched and secured all remains located at the site, Della Fave said.

The medical examiner’s office released its preliminary findings, saying the remains are human and that further testing is necessary to determine if they are male or female.

Della Fave said the remains were located next to the tide line, in a very marshy area along the Rikers Island Channel. The remains were not inside the airport perimeter and did not breach airport security.

Port Authority police are awaiting a determination by the medical examiner’s office on the gender of the remains and a cause of death, Della Fave said. Meanwhile, police are checking local missing persons reports to determine if there is a possible match to the remains.–Liz Goff